Adnkronos Rome, June 13 (Adnkronos Salute) – A questionnaire promises to change the history of stomach cancer. It is called GastroForm, it is made up of 79 questions and, soon, a study will be launched for its scientific validation. In 2024 in Italy, approximately 14.100 new cases of gastric cancer have been estimated, but less than 20% are identified in the initial phase, with the consequence that 5-year survival is just 32%.
A clear difference compared to Japan and South Korea, where it exceeds 60%. In many Eastern countries, in fact, gastroscopy is one of the anti-cancer screening tests guaranteed by national health systems, while to date there are no strategies for screening for stomach cancer, not only in Italy, but in all Western countries. GastroForm is part of Gastroscreening (www.gastroscreening.it), one of the first projects in Europe that aims to identify people at risk of developing stomach cancer thanks to a first-level test. The study for the scientific validation of the questionnaire is presented today in Brescia, at the national conference 'Road to Gastroscreening/3', with the interventions of clinicians, epidemiologists, pathologists, molecular biologists, institutions and patient associations.
"In Japan and South Korea, adherence to the gastric screening program is high and exceeds 70% - explains Gian Luca Baiocchi, co-founder and scientific director of RicerChiAmo Onlus, director of General Surgery at the Asst of Cremona, full professor of General Surgery at the University of Brescia - In Italy, where stomach cancer is less frequent, it is not possible to adopt the 'oriental model', also due to the enormous cultural differences that would hinder adherence to an invasive test such as gastroscopy in the West. Furthermore, if this test in our health system were extended to all citizens above a certain age, it would not meet the criteria of cost-effectiveness, as instead happens for mammography, for the fecal occult blood test and for the Pap test or the HPV test used for a long time for the early diagnosis, respectively, of breast, colorectal and cervical cancers".
For this reason, the specialist continues, "we started from the need to identify a first-level, non-invasive, very low-cost and relatively specific test for this neoplasm for an initial assessment of the population at risk, to whom gastroscopy can then be recommended. Only in this way is it possible to increase the number of early diagnoses. In 2022, we developed a first version of GastroForm, with 38 questions and submitted it to approximately 5 thousand people between the ages of 40 and 80. Based on the answers, more than 600 citizens were advised to undergo gastroscopy. The second phase of the project saw the refinement of the questionnaire, thanks to the involvement of epidemiologists from the Mario Negri Institute in Milan". Here, continues Silvano Gallus, head of the Mario Negri Lifestyle Research Laboratory, "by analyzing the entire scientific literature we increased the number of GastroForm questions, bringing them to 79".